National Highways is reminding road users that the M4 in South Gloucestershire will be closed this weekend as part of the work on the A432 Badminton Road Bridge. The motorway will be closed in both directions between junctions 18 (Bath) and 19 (M32) from 7pm on Friday 18th October to 6am on Monday 21st October 2024 while a trench is dug under the motorway.
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New national planning rules that will force a massive 30 percent rise in housebuilding in South Gloucestershire are a “potential disaster” and an “attack on green spaces”, critics have warned. It means an increase from 1,317 at present to 1,717 every year over the next 15 years – a total of 6,000 more homes than currently planned in the latest draft of the authority’s new Local Plan.
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A total of 1,751 more homes across 17 new sites have been included in the latest draft of the South Gloucestershire Local Plan – with over half of the proposed developments in the green belt. The extra houses and flats are in addition to the previous draft of the 15-year blueprint, published last autumn, which envisioned 20,490 homes to be built in the district between 2025 and 2040.
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Lib Dem councillor Maggie Tyrrell has been elected as the new leader of South Gloucestershire Council. The decision at a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 17th July followed the resignation of predecessor Claire Young, who stepped down after winning the Thornbury & Yate MP constituency at this month’s general election and is now in Parliament.
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South Gloucestershire Council has told the government it needs to reduce black bin collections to once every three weeks. The local authority, which last month launched a search for a new waste partner to collect rubbish from the kerbside, says doing this less frequently will help it plug a funding gap and hit recycling targets.
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Council tax in South Gloucestershire will increase by 4.99 percent from April 2024 after councillors approved next year’s budget. The financial plan includes “investing in cost-of-living support”, as well as taking action on climate change and helping residents cut down on their energy bills. The latest increase follows on the heels of an identical hike of 4.99 percent that took effect from April 2023.
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Council leaders are set to rubber-stamp plans to double the cost of garden waste collections and introduce car parking charges in South Glos despite huge opposition from residents. Cuts to the council tax reduction scheme (CTRS) – benefits that help the poorest households pay the bill – and shorter library opening hours are also included in the local authority’s annual budget.
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National Highways has announced that the A432 Badminton Road bridge over the M4 motorway will need to remain closed for a further two years to allow the structure to be demolished and replaced. Demolition is planned for summer/autumn 2024 following work to divert utilities and it’s hoped that construction of the new bridge will be completed in 2025.
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Children are having to wear coats during lessons because schools in South Gloucestershire are so cash-strapped they cannot afford to turn the heating up. Headteachers say the financial situation has hit crisis point because the district is the worst-funded of all 151 education authorities in the country. Both council-maintained and academy schools are affected.
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A 15-year blueprint for more than 20,000 new homes, 25,000 extra jobs and infrastructure across South Gloucestershire has been published. The draft Local Plan includes a huge expansion of Bristol’s ‘urban edge’ onto swathes of countryside to the east of the city, including green belt land.
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